:-? Hi. Purchased and have had some success in growing my first-time ever something called 'poivre pepper el jefe'. The only recipes I can find using them is mentions salsa. Does anyone have any other suggestions?? And oh yes, they are currently green but the label showed them also as red. Do I wait for them to change colour? Is there another name more common for them?? Thanks.
Squid the peppers will turn red on their own so I'd wait for them to change colour before picking them. Here is a website with some recipes that you could try: http://southernfood.about.com/od/jalape ... d_More.htm Basically your peppers are one of the family known as Capsicum annuum. In French, 'au poivre' literally translates as "with pepper." i.e. Steak au poivre - steak with pepper. The 'el jefe' part translates from the Spanish as 'The chief/boss.'
Just like bell peppers, your jalepeno peppers will turn red when they are fully ripe. They turn red and they get hotter--too hot for me. You can pickle jalepeno slices and can them. If you like to make nachos, then this is worth doing. I used to use the pickled jalepenos in cooking. I put them in chili con carne, chicken enchiladas and a few slices really adds zing to a pizza. I put a sliver of jalepeno in my green corn tamales. Jalepenos are spicy enough that at most you'll use three or four peppers in a pot of chili. The little bit of vinegar isn't enough to matter. You won't taste it. You can rinse them off if you want. I like to put a few drops of jalepeno pickle juice on my french fries. You might want to try jalepeno jelly. It's sweet and hot but delicious thinly smeared on a cracker with cream cheese. It's good with ham and cheese on rye bread or crackers too. You'll find many recipes on line for cooking with jalepenos.
Or you could do like I do and pick all the peppers and tomatoes I can and give them to a good friend that makes some of the best salsa you have ever eaten!! Or just slice them up a bit with some onions and saute them and put them on top of a sirloin steak just off the grill with some Monterey Jack cheese with some of the before mentioned salsa for a great dinner!! (I do love it when the turn red!! Makes for some great chili!!! Warm you up!)
